Finding Hope After Divorce

If you’ve visited Flourishing Today before, you’ve briefly met my friend, Laurie. She was part of My Favorite Moments post a few weeks ago. Laurie has a special place in my heart. She taught my oldest daughter when she was in second grade and made a world of difference for her. Laurie is kind, compassionate and has a huge heart for children. Although she’s been through some difficult times in life, you’d never know it by her upbeat, friendly personality. I am so excited to share her with you again today!

I love Precious Moments! Years before I met my husband I had already begun collecting sweet little Precious Moment figurines and each one of them reminded me of beautiful moments in my life. I still smile when I think about the moment I married my husband in 1989. I was happy to add the bride and groom figurine to my collection. After all, I had been dreaming of this moment all my life. Within the first 7 years of our marriage we were blessed with our three children and life was good. I cannot explain what lead my husband to come home one day, after 17 years of marriage, to inform me that he no longer wanted to be married. Nothing had prepared me for this moment and as far as I was concerned all my precious moments had come to an end.

Is there hope after divorce?

My divorce was final in 6 months and my kids and I had to leave our home, the school where I was a teacher and my kids attended, our church family, and a financially stable lifestyle. I was facing the things I feared the most and I must admit that my faith was shaken. I had never had trouble praying or believing God to do the impossible all through life, but for some reason during these dark days, I found myself unable to pray at all. I was on a roller coaster of emotions I had never experienced before. I soon began to realize that no matter how far I distanced myself from God, He never left my side….not for one moment. He reminded me daily in the simplest ways that everything was going to be ok.

Overcoming in and after divorce is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I had many moments of doubt; however, in my weakness God was strong. His grace was sufficient for me. Just a year ago God showed me what really makes moments precious. I had defined precious moments as those times in life when everything was working out as planned. And so far my “Plan A” life wasn’t working out as I had dreamed. Yet the words “moments matter” kept ringing in my mind. I felt like the Lord was speaking to my heart. I remembered all my Precious Moment figures that I had packed away in the attic after my divorce. I decided to go in my attic and take them all down. As I opened them up one by one I began to understand the meaning of precious moments. God was reminding me that my moments matter to Him and that’s what makes them precious.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

He makes all things beautiful in His time.

According to Ecclesiastes 3:11, He can take the ugliest of situations and make them beautiful. Some of our moments are not so beautiful, yet when we place our trust in Him, we know they will be.

He works all things out for our good.

All things work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Some of my hardest moments led me to the most beautiful moments in my life. God doesn’t waste one once of our pain. Instead He uses it for our good.

Life is full of moments—good and bad, and God is aware of all of them. Psalms 139 tells us that He has known us since before we were born and not one moment of our lives goes unnoticed by Him. He is the Master of our moments and He is at work making a masterpiece of our lives as we trust Him. So don’t focus on your moment! Instead, focus on the truth: Every one of your moments matter to God. That, my friend, is what makes them precious.

About the Author

Laurie Vignes is a second grade teacher at a local Christian school and the Children’s Pastor at New Beginnings Church in Covington, La. Her heart is to see the children she serves grow in their relationship with God and know they can do all things with Him. She loves spending time with her three kids and is blessed to be called their mother. She enjoys time at the beach with friends and family and loves music and dancing. Her newest passion is writing! She believes that spoken and written words are powerful and looks purposely to God to lead her through His Word.

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Comments

Laurie, God does care about every little detail, and I have been so in awe of His tender care over my sister-in-law. Thank you for showing the hope we have regardless of how difficult and crushing the circumstances can be.

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